Over decades, Governat pressure mounted against the Host to abandon their defensive posture and determine the source of the Forms' invasion into Echo Alpha and, subsequently, their ability to threaten Second Heaven directly. The ARK was designed by Second Heaven techs to be used by the Host in an expeditionary role. Supported by two Archangel divisions, and a ring of light to medium 'See-twos,' the Ark would move beyond the Halo for extended operations in an effort to identify 'Form' clusters and their origins. Built on a re-tooled, super-heavy arthropod chassis, the Ark takes its name from the Advanced Reconnaisance Kit wired throughout the craft. The advanced electronics in the Ark allow it to locate, identify and track up to 144,000 individual objects and coordinate communications between as many units if necessary. The full capabilities of the Ark were not fully known when it began its maiden operation in late 2940. It did not return.

In the late 21st century, Level 66 of The Dimension Science Facility - United Kingdom (DSF-UK) housed the CP2's human phasing and bio-engineering studies. Direktor Kriegler Goss sought to ascertain the effects of phasing on the human body. Goss discovered the benefits of using phase fields on living tissue and, in doing so, became the 'father' of modern bio-engineering. Many objected to the unsupervised anonymity in which Goss was able to work with human subjects, but the benefits derived from the experimentations were lucrative enough for participating governments to shield the installation from regulation. Goss is credited with the technology that lead to DNA Branching and eventually to Third Generation (3rd gen) humans fifty or so years after his death.

German : "Falling Stars"
Fallende Stern refers to an event occurring in 1943 at the Treblinka extermination camp. see August 2, 1943 A.D. in timeline.

Known only to a handful at the time, an 'egg' of unknown origin and compilation was recovered from Duscheraum 7 after the Fallende Stern event by Germany's top secret research group the Defektes Kreuz. Known to even fewer was the dissolution of the Defektes Kreuz Groupe and the 'disappearance' of the egg artifact 4 months later.

The Forms appeared on Earth Prime sometime in the 21st century though exactly when and where is not certain. Also known as Black Bodies or Beasts, the Forms are intelligent, non-terran lifeforms, possibly trans-dimensional, that are able to maintain a loose body of rapidly reconstituting cellular material. Several 'body types' have been identified by differences in shape and function. A consistant feature among all Form body types, however, are their elongated digitless limbs, which resemble long black tentacles. The Forms were responsible for the destruction of First Heaven and the human race's retreat from Earth Prime to the dimension Echo Alpha where the haven of Second Heaven was established.

The ability to move 'out of phase' with one dimension and 'into phase' with another is called phasing. Not to be confused with teleportation which moves matter across a distance from one point to a different point in space, phasing shifts the matter from a point in one material dimension to the same point in a different material dimension. The World Cities of First and Second Heaven are out of phase with each other. That is, they exist in the same precise physical location in the multi-verse, but in different dimensions.

Second Heaven's Massive Phasing Generator, the Ragnarok Engine projects a halo of 1200 cubic miles. Initially the Ragnarok supported twelve phase gates, however, the gate to First Heaven was locked and decommissioned after the city fell to the Forms. Two other gates close to the edge of Rangnarok's halo were destroyed, when the Forms suddenly appeared on the outskirts, to prevent their potential use by the enemy, though it is not known whether Forms could operate or even pass through a phase gate.